Strängely Lïvïng [ST]

» Volume 1

"Are you, uh, feeling alright?" Mike questions softly, causing the girl to sit up.

"Oh yeah," she smiles and nods. "I feel great. Just a little confused.."

He looks at her questioningly, walking towards the car and taking a seat on the space beside her. His head turns to her, and his eyes examine her features, while a blush forms on his cheeks.

"What're you confused about?" He clears his throat, looking away from her and shaking off his blush.

"Why do we eat lollipops? They're such an unusual concept," she mumbles, laying back. "I mean, we're basically just eating our own flavored saliva."

"It sounds gross when you say it that way," Mike snorts, shaking his head.

"Hey, why didn't you wanna hold my hand earlier?" She frowns. "It really hurt my feelings..."

Hearing those last few words out loud makes Mike feel immediately ashamed of his actions, he doesn't realize why he feels so bad. He just feels so bad like he's ruined any chance he has at—

Wait, a minute. What exactly would he be ruining his chances at? What did he want from Frankie, exactly?

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I have no idea why I said that I didn't want to. We've held hands before, I just suddenly felt weird about it."

"Why?" She questions, turning to look at him.

"I have to be honest," he sighs. "We've been spending so much time together and I'm starting to think I might have weird irrational feelings for you. D-Don't worry though, it's nothing I'm sure. I mean, I'm probably just confused, I obviously can't like you—"

"There you go again!" She groans. "You're hurting my feelings again!"

His eyes widen slightly, and he stares at her confused. Did this mean what he's thinking it means?

"I don't understand," he mumbles. "I thought you liked Will."

"I thought you liked 011," She fires back.

"I do," He blankly states.

"Well," she huffs, "I like Will, too! This is just— it's just— ugh! It's confusing!"

The two lay in silence for a bit, remaining cautious of their surroundings. Mike can't help but feel selfish for his newly developed feelings. He shouldn't be allowed to like her. Not now. Not ever. Just, especially not now. 011 just got back!

He knows he still has feelings for 011. He just can't help but feel a weird attraction to Frankie.

No matter what, Frankie has a special place in his heart.

The difference between Frankie and 011 is that in one relationship he feels more need than in the other.

When he's with Frankie, he feels actually useful. She's more fragile than 011, and doesn't necessarily need protection, but doesn't mind when people give it to her. She makes Mike feel like he actually needs him to protect her, while 011 is clearly capable to handle herself.

That just makes him feel more selfish.

"Mike," Frankie breaks he silence in a soft tone. "Will needs me."

He frowns a little, his heart sinking.

"Yeah, I know," he whispers back understandingly.

"011 needs you," she adds, trying to make the situation better.

"Yeah, I know."

Another silence engulfs them, but this time, Frankie turns to stare directly at Mike. He doesn't seem to notice, busy examining the sky.

She thinks about how unusually fast and drastically their relationship has changed over the past few days.

It was clear that they, too, need each other.

Even if they could have each other only for a second.

So, without a second thought, Frankie moves closer to him. Mike looks down at her confused at first, but his expression is wiped clean when she leans over kisses him softly on his cheek.

With wide eyes, a bright blush takes over his cheeks. He looks her directly in the eyes, nervous about what exactly to respond.

He doesn't even get to respond though.

Frankie's lips on his fill the gap of silence.

Steve's gonna kill me.